Bound by Music

The Power of Music

     The four siblings huddled close together as they surveyed the clearing. The cannon took up most of the space in the center and was almost as large as Sleet and Dingo's old airship. It was surrounded by swatbots, buzzbombers, and various other robots as guards. But speaking of the two bumbling bounty hunters...

"A perfect hit!" Sleet cheered to himself devilishly, "Now all we have to do is find the remains of those meddlesome hedgehogs."

   After not hearing a response, the half-roboticized wolf turned around to find Dingo cuddling with a motobug struggling to rev away. Sleet placed his hands on his hips and sneered at the ladybug-themed contraption.

   "Dingo!" he barked, startling the orange mutt. "Put that down. We have a job to do."

    Dingo pouted and hugged the machine closer. "Can I take her with me? She'll be good. I promise!"

   Sleet rolled his eyes and facepalmed. "Don't tell me you're actually attached to that thing?"

    "Her name is Valentina Sophia Montego III, and she is my new best friend. I promise I'll take good care of her, Sleet! I'll feed her, and wash her, and take her out for long walks."

   Sleet sighed deeply in exasperation, pinching his nose in a rare effort to curb his temper while his partner rambled on and on about his new "pet." The hedgehogs spying on them struggled to hide their amusement.

The only one of the four to remain focused on their task was Shadow. He simply rolled his eyes at the two bounty hunters, feeling the slightest bit embarrassed that they got shot down by these two, of all people.

As he surveyed the clearing, he noted that there was a larger number of robots than the first time Eggman had attacked. This wasn't exactly a problem for the Ultimate Lifeform, neither did it pose much of a threat to Sonic, but he had a limited knowledge of Sonia and Manic's fighting abilities, and he couldn't afford to both take down the hoard of robots and look over his shoulder to check on them at the same time. Their best bet to finishing this quickly would be to work together.

Hear the voice inside your heart.

Sing the song you've known so long.

   Shadow tilted his head as an idea formed. Maybe their best bet would be to sing together. Crazy as it sounded, it felt plausible.

     "I can't believe I'm actually thinking this," he whispered, turning his attention to the now-curious triplets, "but, I have an idea."

    Sonic smirked, and Sonia and Manic shared an excited glance before the four huddled together. As he shared his idea, the three nodded in agreement. Sonic gave one last thumbs up.

    "Let's do it to it."

Dingo looked over his shoulder, clutching the newly dubbed Valentina close to his chest.

   "Uh, did you hear that, Sleet?"

  The cybernetic wolf groaned loudly in exasperation. They hadn't even left the clearing yet, and the bulky brute was already jumping at strange noises.

    "What is it now, you insufferable oaf?"

  One of the buzzbombers exploded, startling the two bounty hunters. Sleet slowly unclipped the gun in his hilt. His claws hand hovered over the weapon as his eyes scanned the tree line.

    "Who's there?! Show yourself!" he commanded. There was a flash of light, and Valentina the motobug blew up in Dingo's hands.

    The bounty hunters pressed themselves back to back. Dingo held his fists up, angry and distraught over the sudden destruction of his new "pet." Sleet had his laser gun drawn and aimed in front of him.